Finalise processes to set up special courts, SC tells Centre

Above: Politicians during the election of Vice President in 2017 (file picture). Photo: UNI 

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (November 1) asked the government to finalise processes to set up special courts for speedy trial of cases against politicians. The court gave a one-year time-frame. In an attempt to weed out criminals from politics, the Supreme Court has also sought a plan from the Centre to set up special courts for fast trial of 1,581 lawmakers facing criminal cases since 2014.

The bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Navin Sinha has asked the Centre to inform how much money it is willing to allocate for setting up of the fast track courts for concluding the trials. This was when Additional Solicitor General Atmaram Nadkarni, while appearing on behalf of the Centre, said that the government did not oppose the setting up of special courts; however, it was a state related subject.

The bench has also asked the Centre to tell about the fresh cases registered against politicians.

Justice Gogoi said that the under-trial politicians hold office because they do not get convicted even after years of ongoing trial. “In some cases it takes 20 years for a person to be convicted and by this time he serves four terms as a legislator,” he said.

Lending its support to remove convicted politicians from the system, the Election Commission told the apex court that it supports imposing lifetime ban on convicted politicians. The suggestion was originally given by a petitioner. Senior counsel Meenakshi Arora, appearing for the Commission said that the EC supported lifetime ban for convicted politicians and also the setting up of special courts for pending criminal cases against them. Keeping the Centre’s stand on the matter, the ASG said that the government was considering the recommendations of the Law Commission and the EC. However, he went on to say that the government has not come across even a single case in which a politician has been elected after his conviction and disqualification. As per the existing law, politicians sentenced to jail term of two years or more are barred from contesting elections for six years from the date of their release from prison.

—India Legal Bureau